Mushroom question

[huhhh]

Hang with me, I'm very new to corals. I have a 46 bow with 1 per. clown and a recently added lawnmower blenny. I have 1 orange mushroom (as a trial to see if I could keep it alive). The mushroom and clown have been in for a bit over a month now. Tank has been up for 3.

I know mushrooms move but the question is how much should I have to do with its positioning? I can't get the thing to attach. I've tried several different methods and it just floats off after a week or two of not moving. So I eventually just set it on/next to some rubble (it seems to like the substrate better) on the bottom, in simi-shade, away from any real flow. It still keeps moving. Should I just let it go, or should I be concerned it will wander under a rock, get stuck and die?

 

[nereefpat]

Put the mushroom in a small Tupperware with rubble on the bottom. Eventually, when the mushroom attaches to the rubble, glue the rock where you want it.

 

[huhhh]

I tried that. I left it there for 2 weeks. I went to move the rubble and it floated right off. I also tried putting it in a PVC "ring" on a piece of rubble with mesh over it. ...Same thing week and a half or so later, soon as I took the mesh off, it floated away.

 

[JUNBUG361]

Use glue or rubber bands

 

[eastlake]

In general mushrooms will start to wander then they aren't happy. Usually the tupperware, rubble, and mesh works well to get them to attach (not always a quick process) then gluing them on a plug so its easily movable would be my next step and then move it around the bottom of the tank until it is staying put on the plug and not wandering to the sides as though its about to go on walkabout. In general mushrooms like soft flow and moderate to low lighting, what kind of lights are you using? It's very possible that the shroom is getting too much light and is seeking shelter.

 

[nereefpat]

What specific lights are you using?
Water parameters?
What kind of orange mushroom? Ricordea, or a plain Discosoma/Actinodiscus shroom?

Usually glue doesn't work with mushrooms, as they just slough it off. Mesh and rubberbands does usually work.

 

[huhhh]

It's not a Ricordea I know that. Last test everything was within normal range. PH was a bit low 8.0. Did a water change and added some buffer. Lights are LED:

Specs on the LED:
57 LEDs • 51x 10000K cool white • 6x 460nm Actinic Blue • Lumen :3420

 

[huhhh]

It kept trying to hide under rubble, so I kept lowering the whites. Its a bit on the dim side in there now.

 

[homer1475]

Last test everything was within normal range. PH was a bit low 8.0. Did a water change and added some buffer

Checked you ALK lately? PH buffers are worthless and only cause your ALK to increase for a short temporary increase in PH, which after it mixes in and the carbon dioxide levels come back to normal your PH will settle back to where it was.

 

[Uncle99]

Mushrooms have a habit of finding a location where they are happy, I have always just let them go unless they came on a rock or plug

 

[huhhh]

It just seems to want to sit on the substrate (which is a fine grain CC). I put it on rubble and it just slides off and sits beside it. It seems healthy, it's growing. Is it okay to leave it on the substrate?

 

[Uncle99]

Yup, over time more substrate will stick to it and provide enough weight to keep him still.
Mushrooms are very hardy and over time will multiply....

 

[Uncle99]

I have 7 orange and blue ricordias, been on the substrate for 6 months now, spread quite wide over the semi course sand...